The Colfax chronicle. [volume] (Colfax, Grant Parish, La.) 1877-1981, 1887-09-10
rHE PITcHER.s ART.


Uue pUuO060 = A0bs
Clever and scientific Curvss. Shoots, Raises
and Drops from the Bex4
1t was by slow stages. writes +. H
Murnane, that the present high stand
ing of the pitchers art was attained.
Arthur Cummings. Brooklyn youth,
was the first to bring into use the out
curve. He was known ~ the boy
wonder, back in 1869. with the Stars, Of
Brooklyn. have heard him tell how
he first discovered the curve. He was
pitching against picked nine one day
and noticed the ball curving. He had
no difficulty in striking the batsmsu
out. and went home that night and
tried to study out the phenomenon.
The next day he invited some gentle
men friends out to see him work. They
laughed at him, and when he tried To
convince them that he could accom-.
plish what he claimed he failed. as no
doubt in his anxiety he sent the ball
too fast. and very little curve can be
got on speedy-pitched ball. He was
not discouraged. however, but went Out
with his catcher the next day and
learned that the curve came from .
certain twist he gave bis wrist. He
worked hard until he got good control
of the new move and then astonished
the scientific world. Cummings was Of
slight build. his pitching was very
graceful, and his curve was Of the sail
| ing kind, much ike Caruthers' of the
St. Louis Browns.
Matthews was undoubtedly the first
pitcher to work the raise ball, as far
back as 1869. / never saw him pitch
an out-curve until 1873, and faced his
pitching for several years before that
In 1873 Matthews was with the Worces-
ters and pitched against the Bostons,
defeating them. He had changed his
style altogether from previous years
aud adopted one-arm Daily's style.
that is, making . double motion by
drawing back before delivering the ball.
With his headwork and the addition OF
the curve he jumped into the front ranks
once more.
In 1872 Avery. the famous Yale
| pitcher, discovered the 'sin-shoot." !
don't think he could curve bali. ut
least l never saw him do it. and hit
against his pitching several times. His
effectiveness was handicapped by the
inability of his catchegs to hold him, as
without doubt the ''in-shoot'' is the
most difficult ball to handle. for in
those days the catchers were not pro-
tected with gloves or masks.
Fred Nichols, better known ~
Tricky Nick" was the first to make
good usc of the drop ball. He was q
great puzzle TO the heavy hitters in
1856. At Bridgeport and New Haven.
Conn.,, Nichols got great drop on the
ball. when pitchers had to keep their
hand below the belt. which would puz-
zle any of our twirlers Of the present
day to accomplish.
The next bali that seemed to bother
the batters was introduced by McCor-
mick. Of the Stars, of Syracuse. This
young pitcher had Mike Dorgsn, now
of the New Yorl<s. for catcher. They
shut out about all the crack clubs OF the
country that paid them q visit. The
ball he deceived the batsmen with was
a raise curve, now used by Radbourn,
of the Bostons. He gave his field easy
chances; the out-feld had most of the
work to do off his pitching. l never
saw him pitch ball below . mans
belt. He had perfect control of the ball
and cool head.
The curve drop was first worked by
''the only Nolan" at Columbus. O.. in
1876. For several seasons he fooled the
best batsmen.
All these different curves, raises,
shoots and drops were discovered by
different people. It is now no unusual
thing to find pitcher with all these
points and many more wrinkles that
they keep working up. Change Of pace
was most beautifully illustrated by AL.
Spalding in the old Boston champions.
Tim Keefe. of the New Yorks. is now
the most successful in that line, while
Clarkson, of the Chicagos, is also
working the change Of pace to good
advantage. Will White and John Ward
were about the first to work the sharp
curve and '.in-shoot' as far back ~
1878. One Of the greatest pitchers, il
not the greatest that ever twirled q
ball, was Charley Sweeney, who was
with the Providence club in 1854. He
was the first and only man that l ever
saw who could curve an out-ball to .
left hand batsman. Several of the
pitchers can get shoot. but his was q
clean curve. He has the unequalcd
record. up to the present day. of nine
teen strike-outs in one game. Boston
| Globe.